Lyric Theater

The Lyric Theatre (also known as The Lyric) was a 3,000-seat opera house built in 1926 as the Ararat Shrine Temple. Over the years, the location also served as the Playhouse Theatre, Victoria Theatre, a movie house called the Capri Theatre, and the location for KMBC radio broadcasts. In 1970, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City signed a lease to perform at the theatre, purchased the building in 1990, and subsequently sold it in 2007. In 2011, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Kansas City Symphony, and the Kansas City Ballet all relocated their performances to the newly constructed Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, at which point the Lyric was no longer in use for performing arts.